Halifax crime figure Jimmy Melvin Jr. has history with headlines

He's been the rowdy face of the Spryfield drug feud for nearly a decade an unpredictable personality who, for a criminal, has been hardly shy of publicity.

The cameras are once again on Jimmy Melvin Jr. after the 33-year-old man was charged this weekend with first-degree murder in the 2009 shooting death of Terry Marriott Jr.

For several years, the battle between two drug gangs one allied to the Melvin family, the other to the Marriotts led to a flurry of fire bombings and shootings, including one outside the doors of the IWK Health Centre, the largest children's hospital in Atlantic Canada.

It seems Melvin's name as a target, associate, or accused has not been far from most of those incidents. And he's not reserved about making his views known.

Minutes after a gunman shot at hisfather in November 2008outside a pizzeria, Melvin yelled into a television camera, "There are no rats in the Melvin family."

He's granted several interviews outside courtrooms and courthouses, and even launched his own short-lived website, replete with bravado and news footage of his many arrests.

Showed off colostomy bag

But for all he has said in public, Melvin has spent much of his adult life behind bars, either convicted or denied bail on a range of charges related to drugs, weapons, home invasion and arson. He's been found guilty of some, beat the rap on others.

He hasn't only been the target of police investigations and arrests he's also been in the crosshairs of his enemies.

In December 2008, Melvin was shot near an apartment in Spryfield. Less than five months later, he was again hit by a bullet.

He survived and in May 2009, boasted in a YouTube video of being "the cock of the walk." Stripped to the waist, he showed off his colostomy bag and gunshot wounds.

In at least one case, his enemy is someone he's known for most of his life. Jeremy LeBlanc, a former childhood friend, was convicted in 2010 of plotting to kill Melvin. LeBlanc was also convicted of planning the shooting of Jason Hallett outside the IWK.

Brother also charged in fire bombings

The Melvin family is no stranger to crime. Jimmy Melvin's brother, Corey Melvin, was recently convicted of aggravated assault related to a 2011 stabbing in downtown Halifax. Corey Melvin has also faced charges related to a handful fire bombings in 2007.

Their father, James Edwin Melvin, was a significant figure in the drug trade in the 1990s. He was convicted in three major busts, one of them involving the importation of 26 tonnes of hash worth roughly $500 million, according to one court judgment.

Many in the public arguably first heard Melvin Jr.'s name following the shooting of convicted drug dealer Wayne Marriott and the subsequent embarrassment Melvin caused Halifax police.

Shortly after Marriott's homicide in Beechville, police put out a public appeal for help finding Melvin, although they did not name him as a suspect.

Six days after the killing, someone tossed a home-made bomb into a store owned by Melvin's family, Sprytown Fast Cash on Herring Cove Road.

Gave police false name

The next day, shots were fired repeatedly at the former home of Marriott's cousin, convicted drug dealer B.J. Bremner, who also goes by B.J. Marriott.

Melvin was eventually picked up in RCMP in Digby following a bar brawl in town, but gave a false name. While in lockup for being drunk, he claimed he could help police in Halifax with their homicide investigation.

A ride back to metro Halifax was organized, but police did not realize who they had on their hands. Instead, Melvin spent a couple of hours helping officers search for himself and was eventually released.

Only later did police realize their mistake. Melvin was later arrested. He has never been charged in Wayne Marriott's death.